Author Archives: charlesprogers
Breakfast in Bed: Jammer Biscuits
Post by Alison Hein.
Throughout the course of the year, you won’t find much jam in my pantry. Maybe a jar of strawberry in the fridge, perhaps a blueberry variety in the cabinet. But that all changes at Christmas time, when I purchase every flavor and color I can find: blackberry, raspberry, peach, orange….even lemon and lime… in order to satisfy everyone’s favorite cookie craving and my pursuit of a colorful holiday platter.
So just about now, I find myself with a refrigerator full of jam, each jar missing only a spoonful or two. What to do? Bake Jammer Biscuits – simple drop biscuits dressed up and shiny with pretty fruit filling. Lightly sweetened and quick to prepare, Jammers are tasty either hot or cold. Let your kids help you bake – they’ll love making little biscuit craters and filling them to the brim with gooey jam.
Then, in a mere 12 minutes, they’ll be feasting on the fruits (ha,ha) of their labor. Crispy outside, melt-in-your-mouth soft middle, just begging for a tall glass of ice cold milk or a mug of hot, hot coffee. Jammers are just right for a grab and go bite or a mid-morning snack; better yet for a jammy breakfast in bed.
Biscuits
2 cups unbleached white flour
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold butter
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vinegar
¼ cup to ½ cup jam
Preparation
Preheat oven to 450°. Lightly grease baking sheet and set aside. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Cut butter into small pieces and mix with flour, using a pastry cutter if you like, until mixture resembles coarse sand. Stir vinegar into milk. (You can also use buttermilk in place of the milk and vinegar, if you like.) Pour all at once into flour mixture, and stir until just mixed.
Drop batter onto prepared baking sheet using a greased ¼-cup measure. Grease the back of a spoon, and use to make crater-like indentations in tops of biscuits. Fill each biscuit with approximately 2 teaspoons of jam. Bake until crispy and golden, 12 to 15 minutes.
Makes 8 biscuits.
Bedtime Stories: This is Not My Hat
Post by Mark T. Locker.
This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen.
If you are a connoisseur of fine children’s picture books, perhaps you have heard of I Want My Hat Back. Or, if you are regular reader of this blog, maybe you saw my review almost a year ago TO THIS VERY DAY of that lovely, subtle, hilarious book. (If not, don’t worry. I hyperlinked it for you.) Jon Klassen’s new book takes a new twist on what worked so well the first time. This is indeed another story about hat theft in the animal world, only this time we see the crime from the perpetrator’s perspective.
“This is not my hat,” the little fish begins, “I just stole it. I stole it from a big fish. He was asleep when I did it.”
So carries on the little fish while we the readers see that the big fish indeed woke up sooner than the perp anticipated, and indeed the giant victim is hot on the fins of this diminutive ne’er-do-well. And although the little fish makes a good point about the hat being far too small for the big fish, it is not for him to decide! That being said, I think the little bowler looks quite dashing on the little guy, but I cannot approve of his methods of acquisition.
I can, however, approve of this book. Few can take a successful theme and make a second book out of it without it coming off as horribly derivative but Jon Klassen pulls it off brilliantly. Just go read it.
Bedroom Design: A Belated Christmas
Post by Laura Cheng.
Is there anyone that is actually glad Christmas is over? Not me. I am still in Christmas mode. It may have something to do with the fact that this year, Christmas was nice and low on the stress-o-meter. I actually had the chance to treasure the time I spent with family instead of stressing about how their time was spent with me. So, in a last ditch effort to keep Christmas alive because I had such a wonderful one, and to wish all my readers a belated Merry Christmas, here’s to maintaining the holiday spirit in your bedroom with Christmas wreaths.
The epitome of Christmas decor, I could celebrate Christmas all year in the bedroom. A holiday message is proclaimed as it rests on a strand of green garland. Flowers in rustic pots provide a warm welcome. Snowflake needle point pillows remind you how cozy the bed really is. If there was a season for wrought iron beds, this is it. With Charles P. exclusive iron & brass sleigh bed, the same look can be achieved by tying a simple velvet bowed Christmas wreath to the foot of their classic detailed iron bed. Hot on every good little boy and girl’s wish list, a pair of sweet puppies cuddle closely. My next blog will be about how to decorate your bedroom with adorable puppies because well, puppies just go with everything.
Source: http://www.homegoods.com/blog/2011/11/30/christmas-in-every-room-plus-a-great-garland-secret/
There’s something that is just so modern, unexpected, and fresh about a square wreath. The square wreath in the bedroom below highlight out the architectural lines in the poster bed. Wreaths are even more appealing when they are zero maintenance. West Elm has just the right faux boxwood square wreath currently for $59. However, with the holidays coming to a close, my financial advisor recommends waiting to score the best deal.
Source: http://pinterest.com/pin/168251736049629634/
There’s no place that I cannot imagine a wreath being hung in my bedroom. I would totally tie one on right over my dresser mirror just like the inspiration below. Metallic decor on a mirrored surface will effortlessly bounce light around the bedroom and is sure generate enough sparkle into the new year. Merry belated Christmas.
Source: http://www.visual-spaces.com/christmas-decorations-with-style
Movies in Bed: Dance Moms
Post by Josh Zinn.
Hello, dear readers! Rather than attempting to encapsulate the elaborate political and artistic machinations at play in any one episode of Lifetime Television’s “Dance Moms,” I thought it might be best to present you with a brief fictionalized dramatization of a recent scene that was broadcast. Some of the names have been changed, however it is nigh impossible to disguise the mistress of the dance herself. Ah, the perils of fame…
Scene:
Two women, Joanne and Stephanie, appear in the doorway of a studio at the Abby Lee Dance Academy. Recent divorcees, they exude an aura of ripe independence, its power mingling with the fragrant aroma of a fajita combo platter they recently split at their neighborhood Chili’s. Untamed and uninhibited in the way only those that drive Dodge Caravans can experience, these women no longer feel a need to please those around them. You might think they’re living life in a “devil may care fashion”, but honestly, these ladies don’t give a damn whether the devil cares or not!
Joanne - Oh dear, would you look at this spot? Some salsa must have gotten lost on the way to my mouth!
Stephanie - Oh no! Didn’t you just get that blouse? It’s so fab!
Joanne - Yep. Look what happens when SOMEONE twists my arm to order a second margarita!
Stephanie - Don’t point the finger at me. I’m not the one who said it was my birthday just so I could get a free brownie sundae. Naughty, naughty!
As the two friends giggle over their Mexican mishaps, a rotund woman, Abby Lee Miller, marches over to them. The owner of her namesake Academy, Abby has been working all morning with the women’s daughters in an attempt to prepare them for a national dance competition that is uniquely different from the national dance competition they attended the week prior as well as the week prior to that.
Things are NOT going well.
Abby - So, tell me this. Your daughters can be here. I can be here. But there’s some reason why neither of you could be here even though we’re going to nationals day after tomorrow and—at this point—neither of your daughters could dance their way out of a paper bag?
Joanne - Don’t you think that’s a little harsh, Abby? They’re little girls!
Abby - Well, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, apparently.
Stephanie - Don’t you dare say that you, b…
Abby - You’re really going to speak like that to me in front of your little girls? Don’t call me names, mommy. I have a whole wall of trophies. What do you have besides alimony and a bitter taste in your mouth? You’re not even a trophy wife anymore!
Joanne - That’s it, Abby! I don’t care what you have. None of us do! These are children! They’re supposed to be having fun and going to the mall with their friends. NOT spending their days listening to some angry cow tell them how untalented they are. I just don’t know how much longer I can be here. I am done here!
Abby - There’s the door. See ya!! If you don’t want to be here, then leave! Just remember that we’ll be winning competitions while you and your kids are crying in your spinach dip.
And, thus, the eternal struggle continues unabated. As always, these questions remain: How does a woman reclaim her life when the life she lost to a man so long ago now exists primarily to foster the dreams of her child? How does a daughter remain untouched by age when the cruel realities of this earthbound plane (boys, slumber parties, One Direction) keep her from learning the steps to the latest jazz number? And how, pray tell, does a lonely, leather-faced dance instructor who looks like she hasn’t done a grande jeté in a coon’s age maintain an ego as boundless as the variety of Stouffer’s microwave meals she must surely adore? Perhaps the answer is…. there is no answer.
(deep)
Life, dear readers, is a mystery. Dance Moms is a really terrible show filled with terrible people doing terrible things that, somehow, is terribly addictive. Their similarities are uncanny.
Things We Like: Hospitality Design Featured Our Organic Cotton Sheets
Post by Kyle St. Romain.
First off, I’d like to wish all the readers here at the Charles P Rogers Blog a Happy New Year! 2013 is going to be the best year yet! But before we can get started with the new, there is one important piece of news leftover from 2012 that we, at the Charles P Rogers blog, want to share with you.
In the December 2012 edition of Hospitality Design (p. 91), Charles P Rogers’ organic cotton sheets were once again featured as a comfortably green bedding choice; ideal for both home and hotel use. If you have yet to discover Charles P Roger’s organic cotton sheets, it’s about time you did.
Made with 100 percent organic cotton, our organic sheets are as comfortable as they are good for the environment. The cotton is grown using low impact farming techniques, which helps maintain soil fertility while reducing the amount of toxic chemicals sprayed onto the earth. Also, the use of natural farming methods means there aren’t any harmful pesticides and fertilizers found within your sheets, which can be a huge benefit for health conscious consumers and people with chemical sensitivities.
Finally, Charles P Rogers’ organic cotton sheets sheets are constructed with 300 single needle thread count and do not use ply yarns. This type of construction is the perfect balance between durability and comfort; two qualities you have likely come to expect from all of Charles P Rogers’ products.
If you’re resolving to live healthier and more environmentally conscious this year, consider organic bedding. Not only will you sleep better knowing you’re helping preserve your planet, you’ll also sleep better tucked snuggly under a fresh set of luxurious sheets.
